Child Of God Quotes
"Nothing is going to startle us more, when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father, and how familiar his face is to us."
Cited in "To Draw Closer to God," Bishop Henry B. Eyring, Gen. Conf. April 1991, Ensign, May 1991, p. 66 Quoted in John Bytheway's book: What I Wish I'd Known in High School, p. 32
"I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well acquainted with God our Heavenly Father.....You are well acquainted with him, for there is not a soul of you but what has lived in his house and dwelt with him year after year; and yet you are seeking to become acquainted with him, when the fact is, you have merely forgotten what you did know."
"If we could see our Father who dwells in the heavens, we should learn that we are as well acquainted with him as we are with our earthly father; and he would be as familiar to us in the expression of his countenance and we should be ready to embrace him and fall upon his neck and kiss him, if we had the privilege.... And there is no other one item that will so astound you, when your eyes are opened in eternity, as to think that you were so stupid in the body."
(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:30.)
"I want you to know that I know that whenever one of Heavenly Father's children kneels and talks to him, he listens. I know this as well as I know anything in this world; that Heavenly Father listens to every prayer from his children. I know our prayers ascend to heaven. No matter what we may have done wrong, he listens to us."
Bishop H. Burke Peterson, "Prayer: Try Again," Ensign, June 1981, p. 73
"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting: The Soul that rises within us, our life's Star, Hath elsewhere its setting, And cometh from afar: Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come, From God, who is our home."
William Wordsworth
"Our Father in heaven is not an umpire who is trying to count us out. He is not a competitor who is trying to outsmart us. He is not a prosecutor who is trying to convict us. He is a Loving Father who wants our happiness and eternal progress and everlasting opportunity and glorious accomplishment, and who will help us all He can if we will but give him, in our lives, the opportunity to do so with obedience and humility and faith and patience.
God help us to live to have his help, that these things which he has in store for his children, all of whom we are, may be ours."
(Richard L. Evans, General Conference, October 1956)
Our deepest fear, is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear, is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, "who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous"? Actually who are you NOT to be.
You are a child of GOD. Your playing small, does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born, to make manifest the glory of GOD that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone!
As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.
NELSON MANDELA, 1994
"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."
Thomas Edison
"God loves us. He is watching us. He wants us to succeed. We will know some day that He has not left one thing undone for the eternal welfare of each of us. If we only knew it, heavenly hosts are pulling for us -- friends in heaven that we cannot now remember who yearn for our victory. This is our day to show what we can do -- what life and sacrifice we can daily, hourly, instantly make for God. If we give our all, we will get His all from the greatest of all."
"Give God your best, and His best will come back to you."
Ezra Taft Benson "Jesus Christ - Gifts and Expectations," Ensign, December 1988, pp. 2-6
"You are a child of God. He is the father of your spirit. Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it. However many generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line. You are a child of God!"
(Elder Boyd K. Packer, "To Young Women and Men," Gen. Conf. April 1989 - Ensign, May 1989, p. 54.) Quoted in John Bytheway's book: What I Wish I'd Known in High School, p. 31 (emphasis added)
"Now, this is the truth. We humble people, we who feel ourselves sometimes so worthless, so good-for-nothing, we are not so worthless as we think. There is not one of us but what God's love has been expended upon. There is not one of us that He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us that He has not desired to save and that He has not devised means to save. There is not one of us that He has not given His angels charge concerning. We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes and in the eyes of others, but the truth remains that we are the children of God and that He has actually given His angels...charge concerning us, and they watch over us and have us in their keeping."
George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, 1987, p. 4
"Isn't it incredible? There are six billion people on this planet, and Heavenly Father cares what I watch for entertainment, and He cares what I eat and drink. He cares how I dress and how I earn and spend my money. He cares what I do and don't do. Heavenly Father cares about my happiness."
"First, I want to tell you young men that the Lord has His eye upon you. He loves you. He knows you. He knows your triumphs and your trials, your successes and your heartaches. "
"It is essential that you know and understand that our Heavenly Father loves you like a son, because He is the Father of your spirit. That makes you His literal son, spiritually begotten of Him.
As such, you have inherited the potential to become like Him. His greatest desire is that you grow in this life line upon line, becoming more like Him so that one day you can return to His presence. Remember, it is God's work and glory to bring to pass your immortality and eternal life.
God's love is complete and without limit for you and for all mankind. He is perfectly just and merciful. He is perfectly kind and understands your circumstances and condition. He knows you better than you know yourself."
"When I was taught to pray, I learned that I was actually talking to God, in the name of Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Ghost...I had been told that I was a son of God, a child of God, and that he was interested in me, that he knew me and knew best what was right for me. We were taught to pray at meals; we were taught to pray in the morning; we were taught to pray at night. And we were taught that our Father in Heaven was the one to whom we were talking.
"I wonder how many of us know that we are spirit children of God; and when we are praying, whether it's over a meal, beginning or closing of a meeting, or at a baptism or confirmation, or the blessing of the bread and water in the sacrament, that we are actually talking to God. He is there, he hears our prayers, and he blesses us."
President N. Eldon Tanner: ("He Is There," Gen. Conf. April 1981 - Ensign, May 1981, p. 50)
"...quoted from George Bernard Shaw: "If we all realized that we were the children of one father, we would stop shouting at each other as much as we do."
N. Eldon Tanner, "Christ's Worldwide Church," Ensign, July 1974, 2
"Believe in yourself, my brothers and sisters. You are a child of God. You do have something of divinity within you. Believe in your capacity to do great and good things."
President Gordon B. Hinckley, "First Presidency Message", Ensign, July 1998, p. 4
"Brothers and sisters, tremendous is our responsibility and great and marvelous is our opportunity as sons and daughters of God. Every one of us is a child of God. We know that. Let us never forget that we are children of God at all times and in all circumstances and in all conditions and in all environments in which we might find ourselves and that there is never a time or a season or a circumstance when we can let down on our standards."
President Gordon B. Hinckley (Smithfield-Logan, Utah, regional conference, 21 Apr. 1996)
"All of us have made wrong turns along the way. I believe the kind and merciful God, whose children we are, will judge us as lightly as he can for the wrongs that we have done and give us the maximum blessing for the good that we do."
James E. Faust, "Woman, Why Weepest Thou", October 1996 Conference (November Ensign) pg. 53
"If we keep a cheerful countenance, with a smile for all, it helps to reflect our feeling of love toward all. Cultivate an attitude of optimism. A recognition and appreciation of self is important to cultivate. Keeping in mind that we are children of God should help us to feel that with this royal heritage it is most important that we make of ourselves optimistic, happy, worthy individuals. The world is full of unhappy, lonely individuals."
Camilla E. Kimball "Responsibilities to Ourselves," New Era, July 1980, p. 8
"Consider the power of the idea taught in our beloved song "I Am a Child of God" (Hymns, 1985, no. 301), sung so impressively by the choir at the beginning of this session. Here is the answer to one of life's great questions, "Who am I?" I am a child of God with a spirit lineage to heavenly parents. That parentage defines our eternal potential. That powerful idea is a potent antidepressant. It can strengthen each of us to make righteous choices and to seek the best that is within us. Establish in the mind of a young person the powerful idea that he or she is a child of God and you have given self-respect and motivation to move against the problems of life.
"When we understand our relationship to God, we also understand our relationship to one another. All men and women on this earth are the offspring of God, spirit brothers and sisters. What a powerful idea! No wonder God's Only Begotten Son commanded us to love one another. If only we could do so! What a different world it would be if brotherly and sisterly love and unselfish assistance could transcend all boundaries of nation, creed, and color. Such love would not erase all differences of opinion and action, but it would encourage each of us to focus our opposition on actions rather than actors."
Dallin H. Oaks "Powerful Ideas," "Ensign," Nov. 1995, 25
"Be Loyal to the Royal within you."
President Harold B. Lee - BYU Devotional
"...once we accept the truth of the doctrine that we are the children of God, that realization changes us. Thereafter we cannot willingly injure another or transgress against him. That simple, profound doctrine has a very practical value. It brings a feeling of self-worth, of dignity, of self-respect. Then self-pity and depression fade away. We then can yield to self-discipline and to the discipline of a loving Father and accept even the very hard lessons in life. "
(Boyd K. Packer, "Hope for Troubled Hearts," in Let Not Your Hearts Be Troubled, p. 1)
"There is no spirit but what was pure and holy when it came here from the celestial world. . . . He is the Father of our spirits; and if we could know, understand, and do His will, every soul would be prepared to return back into His presence. And when they get there, they would see that they had formerly lived there for ages, that they had previously been acquainted with every nook and corner, with the palaces, walks, and gardens; and they would embrace their Father, and He would embrace them and say, 'My son, my daughter, I have you again;' and the child would say, 'O my Father, my Father, I am here again'."
President Brigham Young: (in Journal of Discourses, 4:268)
"Welcome Home " - Bishop Keith B. McMullin - April 1999 General Conference
"Within us is something of divinity. One who has this knowledge and permits it to influence his life will not stoop to do a mean or cheap or tawdry thing."
(Gordon B. Hinckley, "God Hath Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear," Ensign, Oct. 1984, 2)
"With all my capacity I encourage you to discover who you really are. I invite you to look beyond the daily routine of life. I urge you to discern through the Spirit your divinely given capacities. I exhort you to prayerfully make worthy choices that will lead you to realize your full potential."
Richard G. Scott, "Realize Your Full Potential," General Conference, 4 October 2003
"When we remember that each of us is literally a spirit son or daughter of God, we will not find it difficult to approach our Heavenly Father in prayer."
President Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 2000, 52
"God knows you and what you can become because He has known you from the beginning when you were His spirit sons and daughters."
President James E. Faust - Ensign, Mar. 2001, 2 - "Who Do You Think You Are?"
"Who are we? We are children of God. Our potential is unlimited. Our inheritance is sacred."
Elder Russell M. Nelson - "We Are Children of God", Ensign, Nov. 1998, 87
"I challenge every one of you . . . to rise to the divinity within you. Do we really realize what it means to be a child of God, to have within us something of the divine nature?"
Gordon B. Hinckley, "Each a Better Person," Ensign, Nov. 2002, 99
"The most important, life-changing information that I know of is the knowledge that we are truly children of God our Eternal Father."
Elder M. Russell Ballard - "Like a Flame Unquenchable", Ensign, May 1999, 86
"Though this world has a way of diminishing and demeaning men and women, the reality is we are all of royal, divine lineage. In that unprecedented appearance of the Father and the Son in the Sacred Grove, the very first word spoken by the Father of us all was the personal name of Joseph. Such is our Father's personal relationship with each of us. He knows our names and yearns for us to become worthy to return to live with Him."
M. Russell Ballard, "The Atonement and the Value of One Soul," General Conference, April 2004
"When we teach those we love that we are spirit children temporarily away from a loving Heavenly Father, we open the door of prayer to them."
Henry B. Eyring, "Write upon My Heart," Ensign, Nov. 2000, 86
"Have faith in your Heavenly Father. He knows who you are. He listens to you when you pray. He loves you. He is mindful of you. He wants the best for you."
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin - Ensign, Dec. 2000, 9
"As with the bud, so with the blossom. A boy is the only thing known from which a man can be made. I hope that we as parents are teaching our children that they are the sons and daughters of God, and that they have the capacity to become like him. It was the old Edinburgh weaver who prayed, 'O God, help me to hold a high opinion of myself.' Likewise I would counsel young people to hold a high opinion of themselves, to remember who they really are, and to put their faith in their Heavenly Father."
Paul H. Dunn, "Young People-Learn Wisdom in Thy Youth," Ensign, June 1971, p. 103
"To think that the great God of all is interested in me and you and is concerned with our welfare and our well-being and bringing to pass His eternal purposes in our behalf. What a marvelous and wonderful thing it is that we can approach Him in prayer, that you and I are His sons and daughters in whom He has a unique and marvelous interest, and that somehow, which I can't understand or fully appreciate, He will listen and hear and answer our prayers. . . . Be not faithless, but believing in the availability of your Father in Heaven to listen to your prayers and answer them and guide you, and direct and bless and help you."
From regional conference, 14 Salt Lake City area stakes, May 4, 2003
"Though this world has a way of diminishing and demeaning men and women, the reality is we are all of royal, divine lineage."
Elder M. Russell Ballard - "The Atonement and the Value of One Soul", Ensign, May 2004, 86
"If you seek His help, be sure your life is clean, your motives are worthy, and you're willing to do what He asks--for He will answer your prayers. He is your loving Father; you are His beloved child. He loves you perfectly and wants to help you."
Richard G. Scott - "Learning to Recognize Answers to Prayer", Ensign - November 1989, p. 32